The Ties That Bind
by RumorsofaRevelation
Summary: Distressed by the events of "TMNT", Mikey has become depressed, and the family comes to a revelation.
1. Together, Apart

The Ties That Bind

Disclaimer: All characters used in this story are property of their respective owners. The song used in this is "Black Hole" by Lindsay Lohan.

Together, Apart

Michelangelo looked up as his bedroom door opened, his brother Donatello stepping into the space and sitting on the foot of the bed. Donnie looked at his orange- banded brother with concern before saying "What's wrong, Mikey? You've been sitting in here for more than three hours." Mikey looked at him, his usually untroubled and smiling face etched with a secret burden." He sighed before saying "I've just been so hurt by what happened with Raph and Leo last year. It's been so hard. I mean, Leo's back, but Raph's still doing his Nightwatcher routine." Mikey finished, looking up from his hands to Donnie. "So that's it. Mikey, Raph will come around. His vigilante thing isn't working out so well." Donnie said, getting up and pulling Michealangelo with him. "C'mon dude, you gotta order the pizza."

They went out into the living room, where Splinter was watching TV. Mikey and Donnie went over to him, trying not to block the TV. "Splinter?" Donnie asked. Splinter looked up from the TV reluctantly. "What is it, my sons? I am trying to watch _Gossip Girl_, and Blair is in the middle of speaking." Splinter said, Mikey barely holding back a laugh. "What do you want on your pizza?" Mikey said, his words stilted by his stifled laughter. "Anything, Michealangelo. Now go, unless you intend to watch with me." Splinter said, his gaze traveling back to the TV.

Mikey went to the phone, Donnie sitting down with Splinter. It was then that Raphael and Leonardo walked in, Raphael from the sewers, Leonardo from his room. They passed by each other, glancing at one another. It was with the furiously charged electricity that passed between them that Michealangelo broke his silence.

"That's ENOUGH!" he cried, coming between them. "I…I can't do it anymore. I just can't! It's like living in fucking World War Three!" Everyone was silent. They'd never heard Mikey utter a curse worse than damn. It was Raphael who broke it. "What's the problem?" he said, his face actually showing concern. "It's you two, Raph! You and Leo! It's like this huge hole has been ripped between you!" By this time, Donnie and Splinter, along with Raph and Leo, were staring at him. "Listen to this. And you'll understand how I feel." Mikey said, pushing a disk into the stereo and guitar music starting.

I found that box of letters  
Lying on the ground  
The ones you used write me before it all went down  
I even got a papercut trying to figure out  
what to do with all these memories.  
And you're not who you used to be...  
and I wonder where you've gone.

Have you fallen in a black hole?  
Somewhere there's a universe of missing stuff  
What happened to the good times?  
What happened to the moments where we had so much?  
Where's the love  
Where's the love

Remember all those hours laughing on the floor  
Those days of doing nothing  
felt like nothing did before  
I don't need those sneakers or that money after all  
I'd trade them for a old message you called  
Cause it's not how we used to feel  
And I wonder what went wrong

Have you fallen in a black hole?  
Somewhere there's a universe of missing stuff  
What happened to the good times?  
What happened to the moments where we felt so much?  
Where's the love?

I wanna go there  
And I wanna know where  
Everything that meant something to me is all

I found that box of letters  
Used to make me smile  
But now I feel so lonely

Have you fallen in a blackhole?  
Somewhere there's a universe of missing stuff  
What happened to the good times?  
What happened to the moments where had so much?  
A black hole  
Somewhere there's a universe of missing stuff  
What happened to the good times?

What happened to the moments....  
The moments where we had so much  
Where's the love?  
Where's the love?  
Where's the love?  
Where's the love?  
Where's the love?

Has he fallen in a black hole?  
Has he fallen in a black hole?  
Has he fallen in a black hole?

The song ended, and Mikey turned off the stereo, tears running down his face, spilling over from his now bloodshot blue eyes. Everyone else was in silence, and this time it was Leo who broke it. "Mikey, I….we…we never knew you felt that way. What did she mean? When she said 'Where's the love?'" he said, even though he knew what she'd meant, Splinter and Donnie moving up to them. "She meant, where did it go? Why isn't it here anymore?, Leo. And your and Raph's falling out last year seemed to suck all of the love out of the family." It was as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off of Mikey with the revelation of his feelings, but it was put right back on when Splinter said: "Michealangelo, did you believe that their incident had made them stop loving you? Made me?" Michelangelo's eyes widened as he replied, "No!, no! It's just that we used to be a team, ya know, the whole 'united we stand, divided we fall' thing. But now we seem to have sort- of…broken." Splinter's eyes saddened at this, and he replied: "The ties that bind a family are not broken by simple means, my son." Splinter turned to Raphael, and said, "Raphael, you are to stop being the Nightwatcher. You see how your actions-" He looked to Leo. "Both your actions have deeply affected your brother." He finished, then went back to the couch, motioning for the four of them to come forward. "Come here, my sons. There is a _Gossip Girl_ Christmas special coming on, and I would like you all to watch it with me." Splinter said, the four of them sitting down, Raph rolling his eyes. A feeling of comfort washed over Mikey then, comfort that he hadn't felt since he'd succumbed to the emotions he'd learned to hide from. Now those emotions left him, chased away by the closeness of his family.

Later that night, Raphael heard someone enter his room. He bolted upright, ready to attack, until he heard Mikey's voice whisper "Raph!". Raphael blinked, then turned on the lights, his eyes adjusting to the sudden bright. "What, Mik-" was all that he got out before Michelangelo enveloped him in a bear hug. Raph hugged him back, Mikey saying, "I'm sorry, Raph, I'm sorry." Raphael pulled away, the said, "Sorry for what? I'm the sorry one. I turned my back on my family when the needed me." His eye began to well up with tears. This stunned Mikey silent. "Your….your…..actually about to cry?" Mikey said, Raphael wiping his eyes and saying something about winter allergies. Michealangelo got up, and said "Apology accepted."

It was in that moment, that Raphael and Michealangelo seemed healed.

(Stay tuned for Chapter 2: On the Mend. Review!!)


	2. On The Mend

The Ties That Bind

Disclaimer: The song used is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon, covered by Paramore

10:00 a.m. That was the time that Mikey woke up the morning after he'd barged into Raph's room, crying over and over that he was sorry. Raph hadn't asked for an explanation. For that Michealangelo was thankful. Thankful that he hadn't had to explain that he was sorry for the deep, horrible resentment that he'd felt towards Raph because of his Nightwatcher routine, because of his refusal to stop being a vigilante until now.

He walked into the living room and saw Raph, Leo, and Splinter sitting on the couch. Donnie was inn the kitchen, glancing up at the TV every few minutes as he ate. The sight of his family being so normal lifted another weight off Mikey. There was no furious electricity passed between Raphael and Leonardo as they sat with Splinter watching _Law and Order: Special Victims Unit_. Mikey walked over to them, sitting down on a chair. "My son, when did you awake?" Splinter said, putting a cup to his lips, his eyes still on the TV. "Just now." he replied, getting comfortable in the chair, not telling Splinter that he'd been up earlier listening to music.

Donnie sat down at the computer in his room later that night. He opened Itunes, and a window popped up saying that a new playlist was done. He knew it had to be Mikey's, because he'd seen him sneak out of his room early in the morning. He opened it, a little guiltily. A folder was there marked "Themes". Donnie opened it, and saw their names in separate folders: Raph, Leo, and Donnie. He clicked his name, and a song started, guitar music coming out of the speakers. He'd heard he song before, but he one Mikey had was a cover.

_I been roamin' around,_

_I was looking down at all I see._

_Painted faces filled with places I can't reach_

_You know that I could use somebody\_

_Well you know that I could use somebody_

_Someone like you and all you know and how you speak_

_And countless lovers under covers on the street_

_Well you know that I could use somebody, oh_

_Well you know that I could use somebody_

_Someone like you_

_Off in the night, while you live it up, I'm off to sleep_

_And wagin' wars to shake the poet and the beat_

_Well I hope it's gonna make you notice, oh_

_Well I hope it's gonna make you notice_

_Someone like me Someone like me_

_Someone like me, somebody_

_I'm ready, I'm ready_

_I'm ready, I'm ready, oh_

_Someone like you, somebody_

_Someone like you, somebody_

_I been roamin' around, I was looking down at all I see_

The song ended, and Donatello sat back in the chair, thinking. "_Why would he put that on there? Why doesn't he just talk to us?, _Donnie wondered, trying to understand . He slowly fell asleep in the chair, thinking.

Raphael sat in his room, debating whether or not to go watch _Law and Order._ He needed a distraction from the emotions pulling at him. Guilt and a nagging sense that he should go talk to Leo. He didn't want to do a midnight break in like Mikey had done to him. He decided to talk to him in the morning.

A knock sounded on Mikey's door, waking him up. "Come in." he said, sitting up, the covers falling to his lap. Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael walked in, closing the door behind him. "What? What is it, dudes?" Mikey asked, rubbing his eyes. "I…uh, I found your playlist last night." Donnie said, the others staring at Mikey. "You always use songs to express feelings?" Raphael said, resisting the urge to put air quotes around feelings. "Shut it, Raph." Donnie said, turning back to Mikey. "Mikey? What did mine mean?" he said. Michelangelo sighed and said "Yours meant that you'd been there for me, and I could use you when I needed someone. And yours," he said, looking at Raph, "meant that I love you, even is you can be a jerk. And, Leo, yours meant that he'd always have us, no matter what he did." Everyone was silent for a moment, till Raph said "Speaking of Leo, I need to talk to him." Leonardo looked at his brother, then nodded, and they left Mikey and Donnie alone.

"Raph, what happened last year-" Leonardo started, till Raph said "We were both being stupid. I mean, look what our fighting did. Mikey had to start selling pizza doing that Cowabunga Carl thing, and Donnie started tech support. We need to put everything past us." Leo's jaw almost dropped to the floor, but he closed it, stunned that Raph had thought the same thing he had. He was about to say something, but Raph hugged him tightly then looked at him and smiled. "Dude, guess what's comin' on tonight?" Leonardo's eyes brightened. "_TrueBlood_!" he said, excitement touching his voice. They'd made a tradition of watching the show before the falling out, and neither one had seen it since. Now the tradition was started up again.

Raph and Leo sat down on the couch, Mikey on the floor next to Donnie. Splinter was in the middle, surprised when Raphael had asked him to turn the channel to HBO. "You are watching _TrueBlood_?" Splinter said, happy and surprised to see his sons together and happy. The show came on, all of them staring at the TV till it ended, the only distraction being Mikey commenting on Sookie's waitress uniform. Donatello thought that it was a little awkward to watch the sex scenes with Splinter, but didn't say anything. An ad for the next episode came on, and Splinter turned off the TV. "You must rest, my sons, for tomorrow, you return to your work." Mikey felt that tomorrow, everything would be back to normal, and as he went to his room, he almost started laughing.

(Stay tuned for Chapter 3: What the Rain Brings. Review!!!!)


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